The Swamp That Trump Built
A businessman-president transplanted favor-seeking in Washington to his family’s hotels and resorts — and earned millions as a gatekeeper to his own administration.
Alberto Cairo
140d ago
The New York Times is chronicling what is likely the largest corruption scandal in U.S. history and nobody seems to care
14,034
President Trump didn’t just fail to drain the swamp. He reinvented it.
Part Four of the Trump tax investigation reveals how he turned his properties into the Beltway’s new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.
JUST POSTED: As president-elect, Trump pledged to step back from the Trump Organization & recuse himself from his private company’s operation. As president, he built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics.
NEW: In part 4 of The President's Taxes, my colleagues and I report on how Trump transplanted Washington's favor-seeking to his family’s hotels & resorts — earning millions as a gatekeeper to his own administration.
NEW @NYTIMES TRUMP TAX INVESTIGATION: How TRUMP & his allies relocated the swamp to his properties.
KEY FINDING: 200+ companies, interest groups & foreign governments patronized Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.
Trump’s Swamp: An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.
New Tax Story: After the 2016 election Donald Trump found a new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president. He has built a lucrative system of favor-seeking at his properties. Amazing story here by some of the best reporters at The NYT
Amazing @NYTimes investigation: Trump properties got money from 200+ special-interest groups, corps & governments reaping benefits from President Donald Trump. 60 patrons paid ~$12M nyti.ms/3dk6XHp
POTUS got $200M+ more from foreign business deals crp.org/trfbd12 pic.twitter.com/pqUqPyWU1a
Once Trump was in the White House, his business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president. Over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments patronized his properties while reaping benefits.
More indications that Trump faces personal ruin if he loses: much of his revenue will dry up, and creditors will be much more likely to go after him if he is no longer in the WH 1/
Reading the latest NYT examination of Donald Trump’s reinventing the swamp to benefit his hotels & resorts makes you wonder what happens to the family business when all the money dries up after Nov. 3. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/Vi7OELw2fO
Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard says he joined Mar-a-Lago because it's "simply the best club in the world." But NYT cites two sources who said Trump made it clear to him that he needed to ante up. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/sHoNMYENUG
The NYT piece on Trump’s Swamp is a remarkable piece of investigative journalism. 19th Century robber barons would be kicking themselves for thinking so small. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/v9T54xlJPN
“An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.”
"Large swaths of his real-estate holdings were under financial stress . . . But once Mr. Trump was in the White House, his family business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president."
"An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration."
The latest @NYTimes investigation based on President Trump’s tax returns is now live, and it’s a doozy—taking aim at his slogan “drain the swamp.”
Plus, a killer lede, and this eye-opening finding in the screenshot. nyti.ms/3nC8P3e?referr… pic.twitter.com/AU7tGd6DEv
1/ Hats off to the New York Times, which published its latest installment in its tax series today. In my eyes, this is the most impressive follow-up they have done to the original story. I’ll be sharing additional thoughts here over the next hour or so.
New: Part Four of our investigation into Trump’s taxes shows how the president transplanted Washington favor-seeking to his family’s hotels and resorts — and earned millions as a gatekeeper to his own administration.
The crush of news is unrelenting but don’t miss this:
‘As a candidate, Trump vowed to drain the swamp. But he did not merely fail to end favor-seeking; he reinvented it, turning his hotels and clubs into the new back rooms, where special interests reign.’
Pick any one of the many horrifying undisputed examples of Trump-family blending of political and financial corruption from last week’s NYT story and it will dwarf the bogus Hunter Biden story even if it were true. “The Swamp That Trump Built.”
Mr. Trump did not merely fail to end Washington’s insider culture of lobbying and favor-seeking. He reinvented it, turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway’s new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.
I’m going to keep saying this until I’m blue in the face: Presidents should not be able to own companies, hotels, and golf clubs on the side. It’s corruption, plain and simple, and my bill to #EndCorruptionNow would end this bribery invitation.
Just 60 customers with interests at stake before the Trump administration brought his family business nearly $12 million in the first two years of his presidency, we found.
Almost all saw their interests advanced, in some way, by Trump or his government.
“Once Trump was in the WH, his business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: ppl who wanted something from him. An investigation found over 200 companies, interest groups & foreign govts that patronized his properties while reaping benefits from him”
One Mar-a-Lago member, the real estate developer Franklin Haney, needed $5 billion in federal loans to complete a project.
"Get it done," Trump told his longtime fixer, Michael Cohen. nyti.ms/3iMUehH pic.twitter.com/4VSUaQccAA
MORE 👀 DATA ON TRUMP’S PRIVATE SWAMP: Just 60 customers with interests before the TRUMP administration brought nearly $12M in business to Trump family properties.
Almost all the customers saw their interests advanced by @POTUS or his government.
Just Published: Trump did not “drain the swamp” but moved it to his clubs and hotels where, tax records show, favor-seekers paid his businesses millions. A team of NYT reporters documented Trump’s mix of private and public business.
A devastating and epic look at how @realDonaldTrump, after vowing to drain the swamp, spawned the swampiest swamp in generations—one that directly enriched him and his family.
This is the product of months of work by **two dozen** @nytimes staff.
This morning in the 11AM Eastern hour I'll be on @MSNBC with guest host @CapehartJ about the extraordinary @nytimes expose today of how Trump profits off the presidency.
Hed: The Swamp That Trump Built.
The NYT Trump swamp story is true virtuosic reporting. An amazing document.
As with so much: shocking and not at all surprising.
Mar-a-Lago was not just the location of the "Swamp That Trump Built," but it was also ground zero for @realDonaldTrump’s cult--except unlike typical cults, this one you had to pay to enter. #LevRemembers #TrumpSwamp #VoteHimOut #VoteBidenHarris2020
The level of corruption detailed here is astounding. Every sentence is a new crime. The fact Trump pardoned a white collar criminal after his son paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mar-a-Lago is just a footnote.
This is what they call the nut graf, and it’s the Marcona almond of nut grafs. Email this story to every relative of yours who liked Trump because they hated the swamp.
nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/M3lqjJDfkO
Ten reporters on the byline of this article. The truth outs, sooner or later.
The latest installment in the @nytimes reporting on Trump taxes chronicles how he monetized the presidency using his properties. We all knew that he never drained the swamp, but still dizzying to see details of how he romped in the muck
If you missed this interactive yesterday, the infographic is in print today
nyti.ms/2Icq4rq
This was a huge effort by the reporting team, I'm so happy I could design for them!
Unnamed editors @billmarshnyt @wilsonandrews @archietse @rory_tolan_ Beth Flynn, Lanie Shapiro pic.twitter.com/ICf94TrODD
How Trump uses the power fo the Presidency to make money for his favorite person in the world -- himself. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/Nqz7KOtPyG
Trump did not merely fail to end Washington’s insider culture of lobbying and favor-seeking. He reinvented it, turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway’s new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.
"As president, he built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics." Amazing NYT investigation into the remarkable scale and brazenness of corruption in Donald Trump's Washington
If you build it, they will come: Latest mind-boggling @nytimes probe, headlined by @nickconfessore, finds 200+ groups, nearly 1/4 previously unreported, which patronized Trump properties while reaping benefits from the administration
Maybe the meeting with the foreign businessman happened at Biden's famous club that he owns, where people pay Biden large sums of money with no oversight to get access to him and regulatory favors. Good article on that
“An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.”
The Swamp That Trump Built - The New York Times nzzl.us/sVO2acB by @nickconfessore
The @nytimes interviewed nearly 250 business executives, club members, lobbyists, Trump property employees and current or former administration officials to provide a comprehensive account of how Mr. Trump has profited from his reinvented swamp.
Trump promised to drain the swamp. Instead he built a bigger one to enrich himself & his businesses.
Amazing reporting by @nytimes team including @nickconfessore @SteveEder @maggieNYT @kenvogel @benprotess
So important. Being President pads Trump's pocket (and possibly delays some of his criminal prosecutions)
The Swamp That Trump Built
Far from ‘draining the swamp,’ Trump “built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics.”
via @NYTimes
This is an extraordinary piece of team reporting. It almost made me feel sorry for @JuddPDeere45, who has to keep denying the most blatant, corrupt conflicts of interest by a president in US history.
(Here’s the story, which has a section on religious gatherings at the Trump hotel in Washington.) nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/L6zXICjxn5
Highlight of this amazing cavalcade of swamp creatures: “If there was ever a territory where there’s an open heaven, and pregnant with divine appointments, it’s the lobby of the Trump Hotel”
Over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments patronized Trump properties, reaping benefits from him and his administration. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/iYRqWu48Rd
Now do what he asked for from autocrats. . .
Trump’s Swamp: Taxes Trace Payments to Properties by Those Who Got Ahead - The New York Times
“He built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics.” Trump’s hotel/resort-based bribe and corruption machine is staggeringly brazen and grotesque.
Amazing work, @nytimes.
Bring on the prosecutions.
"A businessman-president transplanted favor-seeking in Washington to his family’s hotels and resorts — and earned millions as a gatekeeper to his own administration."
Once Trump was in the White House, his family business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president ... over 200 [entities] that patronized Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him & his administration
I have complained a fir bit about the NYT this year. But a story like this reminds you that they can do things nobody else can. A crucial pillar of our fragile democracy.
(doesn’t mean I won’t complain again!)
.@nytimes is exemplifying what a newspaper should do in a democracy. The best investigative journalism. The most ambitious editorial projects. One should always criticize, but there is a reason it’s the best newspaper in the country by far.
I’ve highlighted the most important part of this story. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/F5KUAYZS2O
I am belatedly reading the Times amazing story on the off-the-charts, unprecedented corruption via Trump's properties, and the role of evangelicals is just wow.
Trump property patrons came 'seeking billions from ever-fattening federal budgets. Mr. Trump’s administration delivered them funding and laws and land.' @nytimes shows how 60 of them spent $12M on his biz in 2 years, reaped much more from US taxpayers
Donald Trump electrified rallies with his vows to “drain the swamp." Instead, he reinvented it, turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway’s new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.
Ike's Chief of Staff lost his job for accepting a vicuña coat. This was the biggest scandal of his presidency. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/KYNWPhndCj
Times features Lance Wallnau, who also features prominently in #Unholy.
nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/bGy60zlxC3
That this isn't a bigger story and scandal is an indictment on our political reality.
Trump’s corruption is not surprising—because it’s what he does—but our federal government’s lack of effective defenses against it is truly shocking. After Trump gets dumped, we really do need to build back better.
"As president, he built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics."
The depth and scale of this reporting rival the subject itself. Real great take on the D.C. swamp.
A must read for all #MAGA #MAGA2020 #Trump supporters.
This anecdote is perfect, down to the parenthetical. nytimes.com/interactive/20… pic.twitter.com/hoGOcHlLmP
Absolutely outrageous, but it doesn’t press our culture-wars buttons, so many will just ignore it.
(Also, hard to be surprised by any of this.)
Massive investigation into "the swamp that Trump built":
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
By @nickconfessore @karenyourish and colleagues
Great journalism can take an army. Look at the talent assembled here for this astonishing swamp story: @nickconfessore @karenyourish @SteveEder @benprotess @maggieNYT @gr_ashford @laforgia_ @kenvogel @mrothfeld @larrybuch @iamrumz @dwtkns @billmarshnyt
Trump is not motivated by racism and nativism and authoritarianism. He is those things because that appeals to the only people gullible enough to love him unconditionally for aggrandizing himself, even at their expense. Hence
Trump did not create the Swamp ..
and when casting stones @nytimes let’s talk about what the Clintons, Bidens, and Obamas did for their wealthy and influential friends ...
oh, and how much richer they became afterwards.
hbo.com/documentaries/… nytimes.com/interactive/20…
More spectacular reporting by the @nytimes. I sincerely hope that many of these people, especially those in the Trump crime family, are prosecuted and jailed for all their crimes.
"As president-elect, Trump pledged to step back from the Trump Organization and recuse himself from his private company’s operation..." 🤣
Trump’s Swamp: Taxes Trace Payments to Properties by Those Who Got Ahead - The New York Times
@DYStateofMind @RepCohen @RepHankJohnson @RepTedDeutch @RepJeffries @davidcicilline @tedlieu @RepRaskin @RepJayapal @RepGregStanton @RepDean @RepDMP @neal_katyal @RepEscobar @RepAdamSchiff @jahimes @RepTerriSewell @RepSpeier @RepMikeQuigley @ericswalwell @JoaquinCastrotx @HurdOnTheHill @RepDennyHeck @PeterWelch @RepValDemings @CongressmanRaja @michaelbd @RepAndreCarson @RepKClark @RepPeterDeFazio @LisaBRochester @RepLoriTrahan @PramilaJayapal @RepMGS @vgescobar @AlexWitt @BarryBerke @NormEisen @NFUDC @AymanM @DLeonhardt @marcorubio @PublicSeminar @GovWhitmer @GovMikeDeWine @GovEvers @nytimes @projo @gwaynemiller @paulkrugman The measure of corruption reported in this story nytimes.com/interactive/20… is breathtaking, just as drowning in a swamp ought to be. But even if you don't believe Trump uses his presidential office for personal gain, you might review this piece just for its great graphics.
Trump’s Swamp: Taxes Trace Payments to Properties by Those Who Got Ahead - The New York Times
When it comes to #TrumpTaxFraud, @RepRichardNeal has absolutely failed @HouseDems, @TheDemocrats & America by slow-rolling securing #TrumpTaxes.
@NYTimes articles already make clear multiple crimes, vulnerabilities, and High Crimes & Misdemeanors.
"IT WAS SPRINGTIME at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, and the favor-seekers were swarming."
deeeep dive into his/our swamp: “If there was ever a territory where there’s an open heaven, pregnant with divine appointments, it’s the lobby of the Trump Hotel,” Mr. Wallnau said. “Every time I go there I have a divine appointment with somebody.”
Great reporting: Trump’s Swamp: Taxes Trace Payments to Properties by Those Who Got Ahead - The New York Times
Well, this is literally just blatant corruption. Unfortunately, in a plutocracy like the United States, the laws don't apply to the rich. In two days, no one will be talking about this.
Instead of “draining the swamp,” as promised, this most corrupt President in history has flooded dry ground to build the largest swamp imaginable!
“In early April, Mr. Haney signed Mr. Cohen to a $150,000/mo. Mr. Cohen would not engage in lobbying, he was free to check on Mr. Haney’s loan application. The contract promised him not only a $10 million success fee but also a share of future profits..”
